Kyle Hawkins, also known as Taxman or Taxman the Transcendent, is an alcoholic, racist brony. He seeks to visit Equestria, the main setting of My Little Pony. He claims to have had a relationship with Rarity, a pony featured on the show. During the relationship, he had amassed hundreds of dollars worth of Rarity merchandise, such as plush dolls and art commissions. Eventually, the relationship had come to an end in October 2013. Shortly after, he found his new love: Curio. Other than obsessing over ponies, he was an alcoholic, with wine being his drink of choice. He frequently uploaded YouTube videos of himself tasting wine and rambling about his crusade. In early-2016, after enduring months of attacks from trolls and weens, as well as constant surveillance from the Kiwi Farms, Taxman went dark, and suddenly abated his internet presence dramatically.

Biography

Early Life

Not much is known about his early life. He moved from California to Indiana in 1999. He claims to have had a rough time in high school due to bullying. He says that this "led to many outburst and fights," culminating in him hitting a teachers' aide, landing him in a juvenile detention center. He ended getting a GED later on, thanks to being kicked out of school.[1]

Post-School Life

Taxman tried going to community college, only to drop out mid-semester. He ended up doing nothing but staying home and browsing the internet for a couple of years. He joined the army in 2008, serving in Afghanistan until January 2011. He says that the military gave him an opportunity to make friends for the first time in his life. Upon returning home from the army, he began to indulge himself into My Little Pony and its fandom, and thus shaping his current internet presence.

Internet Presence

My Little Waifu

My Little Waifu is the forum that Taxman runs. He created it on October 10, 2012. The forum is dedicated to anyone who has a waifu "in the likeness of characters from or inspired be the My Little Pony series."[2] Currently, MLW is home to over 500 active users.
Since its creation, MLW is Taxman's main stomping ground. Most information known about Taxman's life is derived from posts on MLW, including posts where he revealed personal information. To this day, Taxman still constantly uses MLW.

YouTube

Taxman created a YouTube account on January 27, 2008, most likely intending to only watch and comment on videos. Eventually, he started uploading videos on April 3, 2015. Usually, Taxman uploads two types of videos: Wine Tasting Tuesdays and Message of the Day.

In Wine Tasting Tuesdays videos, as said in the title, he tastes wine. Though he seems somewhat knowledgeable about wine, it has been noted by viewers that he doesn't know how to taste wine properly. After the wine tasting portion of the video, he usually starts ranting about going to Equestria and the people who are out to get him. After complaints from friends and fans, he agreed to keep the videos related to tasting wine.

Message of the Day videos are more or less vlogs. In these videos, Taxman updates viewers on what's going on in his life. Over time, though, these videos became dedicated to his incoherent ranting. He is clearly inebriated in these videos, sometimes even drinking during the video. These videos are uploaded almost daily, with the occasional break.

After going dark, he uploaded videos a lot less frequently. Now, most Taxman uploads are either occasional updates or something random.

2015 Events

Discovery

Taxman almost exclusively posted on MLW for a few years. He posted a lot of personal information and stories from his personal life in this time. Many of his posts on the site were very opinionated, and sometimes even politically incorrect. Over time, some members of the community grew tired of Taxman's rambling and started to reveal the odd community to the rest of the internet.

Taxman was discovered by trolls in the summer of 2015. He was discussed on websites such as Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan, and earned himself a thread on the Kiwi Farms, created by a former MLW member.[3] It didn't take long for Taxman to notice, and he subsequently began to respond.[4] From then on, trolls added more paranoia and stress to his life. Though many simply stood back and watched, some took things too far. Trolls were responsible for sending Mormons to his house, and causing the September 20 incident, among other incidents.

BronyCon Incident

On August 5, 2015, Taxman announced that he was attending BronyCon 2015.[5] In the video announcement, he showed off the excessive amount of alcohol that he was bringing for "his friends." He also mentioned that he was driving to the event (a 500 mile drive). On August 8, 2015, a picture of Taxman passed out at the convention surfaced. A few hours later Taxman posted on his Tumblr, claiming that he was being stalked.[6] The next day, Taxman complained about breaking an expensive bottle of Absinthe while playing Cards Against Humanity. [7]

Later that day, it was revealed that Taxman had an outburst during the Cards Against Humanity game, leading to him breaking the bottle of Absinthe and getting dragged away by security. In the days following BronyCon, Taxman uploaded various videos from the event, most notably a report of what happened. In the report, Taxman mostly rambled about art he got and alcohol, but mentioned being annoyed after breaking the Absinthe.[8]

Datura and Deteriorating Mental State

After BronyCon, Taxman went back to making regular videos. Right out of the gate, his videos started to showcase his deteriorating mental state. On August 13, he uploaded a video drunkenly ranting about his life.[9] Later in the month, on August 27, he uploaded a paranoid rant about the economy collapsing and investing in gold and silver.[10] Taxman ended the month by buying a gun, concerning many onlookers.

On September 1, Taxman uploaded a Wine Tasting Tuesdays video, in which he announced that he was looking to try datura. Datura, also known as jimsonweed, is a very potent and dangerous hallucinogen/deliriant, and recreational use has resulted in hospitalization and death. [11] As the datura saga continued, Taxman continued further down the spiral. On September 4, he uploaded a video of himself half-naked, dancing around his room with his Curio doll and rambling in his "golem" voice, clearly tripping. [12] On September 8, Taxman revealed that he had purchased a bag of datura seeds.[13] Despite this, he claimed that he would hide them, saying that Curio told him not to take the seeds.

Despite all warnings, it was revealed that Taxman had taken the entire bag of datura seeds on September 10.[14] Taxman disappeared from the internet for a few days, leading many onlookers to fear the worst. Thankfully, it was revealed that he was still alive.[15] Taxman finally returned to the internet on September 13, uploading a video describing the unpleasant ordeal. [16]

September 20 2015 Incident

The "September 20 2015 Incident" is the most infamous thing to have happened to Taxman since his discovery. On that fateful Sunday, Taxman uploaded one of his most insane videos to date.[17] The video starts off with Taxman explaining the prominent hole in the wall behind him, saying that he created it by hitting the wall with an empty bottle of Absinthe. He goes onto make an angry rant on friends who have betrayed him, and describes violent thoughts. He then takes a break to drink and play "Friendship Song" from My Little Pony. After the song ends, Taxman loses his mind, beating himself in the head, poking himself with a pair of safety scissors, and finally attempting to break the empty bottle of Absinthe over his head, all while screaming/ranting in his "golem" voice.

Later that evening, Taxman uploaded a follow-up video.[18] This time around, Taxman is clearly heavily intoxicated. He repeatedly proclaims that he is God, and rubs a pocket-knife all over his face, perhaps attempting to cut it.

At around 1 AM, a ween reported both videos to the police, resulting in cops showing up to Taxman's house.[19] At the time, Taxman was passed out. His mother talked the cops out of arresting him. As a result of the police visit, his mother took away his gun and forced him to stay sober. On September 22, Taxman posted a video discussing the aftermath of the situation.[20] In it, he expressed anger over the fact that someone had tried to get him arrested, or worse. He ended the video by reiterating that he did not need help, and begged people to leave him alone.

Checking Into a Mental Hospital

On October 1, Taxman uploaded a video expressing his anger over having him and his family doxed.[21] In the video, despite dressing well, he is very twitchy, angry, and is barely able to speak. On October 3, Taxman made another video, announcing that he was taking a break from making videos. After a few days of no activity, on October 9, Taxman revealed that he had decided to check into a psych ward, and was being drive to the veteran's hospital by his mother.[22] Despite this resulting in a few days of no activity, many onlookers were hoping that the treatment would work.

Return

Taxman returned to the internet on October 13 with a new video.[23] He uploaded a longer video on October 16. In it, he revealed that at the mental hospital, he had been placed on suicide watch and was given Risperidone, an antipsychotic medication often used to treat mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism.++++ He claimed that the medication prevented him from talking to Curio (which suggests that they were working). He also announced that he was going to attempt to do a Q&A livestream on his birthday. He made the attempt to stream, but it ended up not happening due to technical difficulties.[24] Taxman uploaded another video on October 24.[25] He discussed the fact that he was uploading less videos lately, saying there was nothing interesting to talk about. He also recounted a story about how he lost his glasses the night before, after a night of drinking at the pub. Since the update, Taxman continued to upload videos somewhat more frequently, reviving his Wine Tasting Tuesdays series. On November 3, Taxman posted a Wine Tasting Tuesdays video where he discussed his indifference to the lack of interest in him at the time.[26] This proved to be his final public video for a while. Taxman ended the month by uploading a video of him drinking an entire bottle of Everclear, but it was later removed.

Star Wars and Return to Inactivity

The first half of December was uneventful for Taxman. He stopped uploading regularly. He then began discussing his dislike of Star Wars Episode VII. Based on multiple leaked plot summaries, he talked about how he hated it for being too similar to the Expanded Universe and the previous films. He uploaded a video about it, despite the movie not being released yet.[27] In it, he furthers these opinions, as well as complaining about the lead female character, relating the topic to feminism. He spends the final minutes of the video tard raging about how bad Disney is making Star Wars, ending the video by saying "Star Wars is dead."

The End of MLW

On December 20, one of the main insiders who frequented the Kiwi Farms thread, The Oddball from MLW, made a thread[28] on the Kiwi Farms about a new website: Waifu Central.[29] His post mentioned that "90% of the members" left MLW, due to Taxman's poor leadership (pushing away his friends, having paranoid fits, etc.). The post then just went on about various WC users. Another user summed up the actual reason for the exodus.[30] They revealed that Oddball was a catalyst in Taxman's mental breakdown. Also, the other active insider, LurkerTheLurker, headed the exodus due to Taxman's previously mentioned behavior. They also revealed that the thread was made due to Oddball being shunned by the MLW for his trollshielding and sped-like behavior. The thread then backfired on Oddball, and devolved into a reveal of how much of a sperg he was. As of 2016, MLW remains in relative inactivity.

2016 Events

LeafyIsHere Incident and Inactivity

Taxman remained inactive as the New Year came and went. On January 24, 2016, a popular YouTuber named LeafyIsHere, known for his silly reaction videos, made a commentary on Taxman's September 20th video.[31] It was titled "The Most Psychotic Man on YouTube," and mercilessly mocked Taxman. The video currently has almost 1 million views. As a result, Leafy's fanbase, The Reptilian Army, began spamming Taxman's videos and mocking him on YouTube and beyond. In response, Taxman deleted many of his recent videos (from November 2015) and made a video addressing the situation.[32] In the video, Taxman complains that he is annoyed with the spamming, saying that The Reptilian Army is worse than his trolls from Reddit, 4chan, 8chan, and the Kiwi Farms. Surprisingly, despite raising his voice, he seems somewhat sane throughout the video. He also promised that he would not go after Leafy, and did not need people telling him he need psychological help.

He ended off the video by promising to maintain a low profile. This is most likely due to not only persistent trolling, but to the drama related to the exodus from My Little Waifu. For the most part, he kept his promise. He only returned via Tumblr at the end of February, mostly posting commissioned pony porn. The only other post of note was a picture of the bottle of alcohol he drank on his birthday, revealing he had finished it.[33].

Uneployment and Travels

In March 2016, Taxman announced on Skype that he had become unemployed as a result of his liquor store closing. As a result, he had decided to go on a roadtrip.[34]
This announcement was followed by a hiatus until he posted an update on YouTube on April 5th[35].

In this short segment, an emaciated-looking, but somewhat calmer-than-usual Taxman is seen sitting outdoors, drinking a gin and tonic and smoking a cigar. He states that he is "somewhere out west" and insists he is doing fine health-wise. He hints that the past month has brought him 'great experiences and that there are more to come. He leaves the viewer with a promise of another update.

A month later, on May 5th, Taxman uploaded a video of him and a friend's encounter with a satanist in Portland, Oregon.[36] In the video, Taxman and his friend look on as the man rambles about his beliefs. This video revealed his current location. In the comments, Taxman said that he did not agree with the man's beliefs, but seemed to find the incident humorous.

His move to the west seems to be an improvement, though. On Tumblr, Taxman claimed that he was going to stop drinking. However, he was going to be smoking marijuana. It is assumed that this means he is going to stay in either Oregon or Washington, where marijuana is legal, but the former is more likely (based on his previous video).[37] Onlookers speculate that sobriety will help Taxman, but there is still concern over his marijuana use. It is known that marijuana may have an adverse effect on people with psychosis and schizophrenia, like Taxman.[38]

The "Taxman Ride" Ends

After uploading his "Portland Satanist" video, Taxman began talking about limiting his online presence.[39] He also reiterated that he had stopped consuming alcohol, and he still smoked marijuana. In a move rarely seen from lolcows, he decided to keep his life more private and offline. Around this time, he removed many videos from his channel, especially the vlogs depicting his many mental breakdowns and vlogs in which he divulged personal information. In arguments with trolls in his YouTube comments from summer-2016, he refused to explain the deletions, as per his move to privatizing his online presence. He discontinued his near-daily vlogs, such as Wine Tasting Tuesdays, and only uploaded YouTube videos sporadically. His later YouTube videos rarely featured himself, and he abandoned the vlog format he previously used.

On July 22, 2016, he uploaded footage from Bronycon 2016[40], which he attended earlier that month, on July 8-10 in Baltimore. The video contained low quality footage of musical Tesla coils at one of the panels. Although unconfirmed, it is presumed that Taxman behaved at the convention, as compared to his conduct at Bronycon 2015. In the video's comments, he responded to trolls with apathy and annoyance, even being dismissive towards fans. On November 12, he uploaded a video of Mount Hood, a mountain in Northern Oregon.[41] The video was recorded from an airplane, suggesting he was continuing his travels. In the comments, he made irritated responses to trolls, and asked people to leave him alone. This was his last upload of 2016.

2017 Events

After the new year passed, marking nearly 4 months of inactivity, he uploaded an old video from 2010, that he recorded while serving in Afghanistan.[42]